By Ben Fritz
Last summer, Legendary Pictures LLC and Warner Bros. were in the
midst of a messy corporate divorce. Now, thanks to a huge opening
for "Godzilla," they will likely be in bed together for years.
Warner held on to one Legendary-produced movie during their
breakup: "Godzilla," and it turned out to be a smart decision. The
latest remake of the classic Japanese monster opened to a strong
$93.2 million in the U.S. and Canada and $103 million overseas this
past weekend, according to studio estimates.
Legendary produced the movie and paid for 75% of its $160
million budget, with Warner covering the rest and handling
distribution duties. Under the terms of their agreement, Warner
will also co-finance and release any follow-ups--which are likely
given the movie's huge start.
Legendary, a movie finance and production company that had
operated as a partner with Warner Bros. since its founding in 2005,
broke away from the Time Warner Inc.-owned studio last year amid
personality conflicts and strategic differences. One point of
contention was Legendary's ambitions to transition from being an
investment partner to the creative force behind its own films.
Legendary now is at the beginning of a multiyear deal with Comcast
Corp.'s Universal Pictures.
"It was nice to go out on such a high note and collaborate the
way we did," said Jon Jashni, president of Legendary, who added
that sequel discussions haven't yet begun. The two companies worked
together both in making the movie and on marketing.
Drawing a largely young, male audience, "Godzilla" was the
biggest hit of the year so far on large format screens from IMAX
Corp.
Domestically, its opening was similar to two of 2014's other
big-budget event movies, both sequels to recent hits: "Captain
America: The Winter Soldier" and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
The risks Legendary took with "Godzilla" included not only
returning him to the big screen after his last American production
in 1998 was an infamous flop, but putting it in the hands of
director Gareth Edwards, whose first and only feature
film--"Monster"--was made for just $500,000.
Though critics had mixed opinions on "Godzilla," which provides
only fleeting glimpses of the titular creature until a climactic
battle near the end, audiences kept coming all weekend and gave it
an average grade of B+, according to market research firm
CinemaScore.
Warner president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman said the
movie did particularly well in markets with large Hispanic and
African-American populations.
Overseas, "Godzilla" performed best in the U.K., Russia, and
Mexico. Warner won't be releasing the film in Japan, where the
monster's owner, Toho Co., held on to distribution rights as part
of its licensing deal with Legendary.
Already the movie looks like a much bigger hit than Legendary's
first big-budget production, last summer's original monsters vs.
robots movie "Pacific Rim." "Pacific Rim" grossed a total of $102
million domestically, barely more than just the opening weekend
take of "Godzilla."
The weekend's only other new film in nationwide release was Walt
Disney Co.'s feel-good sports drama "Million Dollar Arm," which
opened to a soft $10.5 million. But the movie, which stars "Mad
Men's" Jon Hamm, cost only about $25 million to make.
Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com
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